It Was Because He Loved You, Claire
by Charlie'sLostVampire
Summary: "It's Charlie… he's dead." Claire looked up at Desmond, and he placed a hand on her shoulder. "He did it because he loved you, Claire. It was all because he loved you."


"We're finally going to go home, sweetheart!" Claire cooed to Aaron as their group neared the end of their long trek back to the beach. They had done it. They had found the radio tower. They made a distress call. They were really going home.

It was all thanks to Charlie.

Claire beamed as she thought about it. He was so brave and wonderful. He had volunteered to swim down to the Looking Glass when no one else would. It was because of Charlie's bravery that they were finally going home. That Aaron would finally get to experience real baby food, a warm crib, and Elmo's World. She could hardly wait to get onto the beach and ambush Charlie.

Sun smiled as she caught up with Claire. "Would you like me to take Aaron for a while?"

Claire looked up at her, a bit puzzled. "Why? We're almost back."

"Exactly," Sun grinned, "I'm sure you'll want to go… find Charlie once we get there."

Claire smiled, thankfully handing Aaron over to her. "Thank you."

When she caught sight of the trees that lined the beach, Claire broke into a run. Bursting out, the first one back on the beach, she quickly scanned it for the adorable disheveled blond hair. She frowned when she couldn't find him, and caught sight of Desmond, standing on the shoreline, looking out at the water. "Desmond!" she called, running up to him. "Desmond!" she called a second time, and he turned. She stopped running when she saw his face. As soon as he had caught sight of her, his face had morphed into a mask of evident guilt and pity. Claire couldn't understand it. Charlie had done it! He had saved them all! Why wasn't he celebrating?

Where was Charlie, anyway? "Desmond," she said when she finally was in front of him. "Where's Charlie?"

He looked down and didn't say anything. Claire's smile disappeared entirely. "Desmond?"

He finally looked back up at her, his eyes filled with guilt. "He's gone, Claire."

"Gone?" she asked in confusion. "Gone where? Didn't he want to wait for the rest of us to get back before going on another adventure…?"

"Claire," Desmond broke in. "Charlie didn't go anywhere. He's… gone."

Her eyes narrowed. "What do you mean he's… gone?"

"I don't know how to say it, Claire. I honestly don't…"

"How to say what?" she asked, becoming worried every second. Was Charlie hurt? Had Desmond left him behind to get help? "Where is Charlie?"

Desmond heaved a painful sigh. "Charlie is… Claire, he's…"

"Desmond, where is he?" Claire's voice squeaked with fear, and she tossed a glance back at the woods. A few people were beginning to make their way out now.

"Claire,"

Her attention was drawn back to Desmond.

"Charlie is dead."

She was speechless. Her mouth hung open, her blue eyes wide. It was clear that she was in shock. "Wh…he's wh…?"

"He drowned. I'm sorry."

"No," Claire shook her head, backing away. "No. No, you're lying. He isn't dead. Jack got a signal… we're going home! Charlie saved us…!"

"Exactly, Claire. Charlie saved us. But in order for him to do that… he had to die."

She was trembling now. "Where is he?"

She advanced on him, pounding on his chest. "Where the hell is he…?"

Everyone was filing onto the beach now, and stopped in shock to gawk at Claire's display as she smacked Desmond furiously, tears streaming down her cheeks. "Where is Charlie…?"

"He's gone, Claire! He sacrificed himself to save you all! In order to shut off the Others signal that was blocking the transmission, Charlie had to die!"

Reality sank in, and as it did Claire felt like she was going to kill the man standing in front of her. "You knew. You knew he was going to die! You knew and you didn't do anything! You KILLED Charlie…!"

She smacked him in the face with all of her strength, and then went in again. She screamed in fury when she felt arms holding her back from ripping him apart. "You killed him! You killed him!"

"Claire! Claire, stop it!"

"You killed Charlie! You killed him!"

"Claire!" Jack yelled at her as he held her back. "What is going on?"

"He killed Charlie! He knew that if he went in there, he would die! But he didn't do anything…!"

"I tried! I was going to take his bloody place!"

Claire stopped screaming at him when he said this. "What…?"

"I told him not to do it. That he didn't have to. I offered to swim down there and turn it off myself. But Charlie knocked me out. He knew what was going to happen to him! He knew and he did it anyway."

"Why…? Why would he do that…?" Claire stopped fighting Jack, and he let her go. "If he knew, why did he go down there…?"

"Because I told him what would happen if he did."

Claire frowned. "What did you tell him?"

"The truth. I told him exactly what I saw. I told him that rescue was coming, and that I saw you and Aaron getting onto a helicopter. But, in order for it to happen, he had to die. He didn't care. Claire… he did it for you."

She shook her head in disbelief as more tears fell from her eyes. "What…?"

"Nearly every time Charlie died in my flashed, he died for you. The first time he died trying to save you when you were drowning. The second he died trying to get your damn bird. If you ask me, he even died for you the third time. I saw a light in the sky, and if there was any chance of getting you and Aaron off this island, he was going to do whatever it took. He took an arrow through his neck. All those times, I saved his life. But this time… he knew you would be rescued only if he died. He wouldn't let me save him, Claire. Charlie died to save you."

Claire was sobbing now. "Why? Why couldn't he wait…? There had to be some other way…!"

"He didn't care, Claire. He knew how badly you wanted to get Aaron out of here. Truth be told, so did he. Because he loves your baby like it was his own, and Charlie loved you."

Desmond reached into his shirt pocket and pulled out the wrinkled, streaked piece of paper. "He told me to give this to you, before he knocked me out. He said they were the best five moments of his life. His Greatest Hits."

Claire unfolded the paper, her hands trembling, and let out a choked sob. The first four were nearly completely blurred out from being in water. But there, on the bottom of the page, written very clearly in Charlie's messy hand writing, were the words "#1: The Night I Met You".

She held it to her chest and burst into sobs. People began to crowd around them in confusion, numerous asking, "Where's Charlie?"

Kate walked up to Jack, grabbing his arm. "What's going on?"

Jack turned to her, looking shocked and dismayed. "It's Charlie… he's dead."

Claire looked up at Desmond, and he placed a hand on her shoulder. "He did it because he loved you, Claire. It was all because he loved you."

Every part of Claire knew it was true. If Charlie didn't love her, he wouldn't have done everything he had for her. He wouldn't have… he would never have died for her.

For the rest of Claire's life, she would have only one regret that held open a gaping wound in her heart; that she had never told Charlie Pace just how much she loved him, too.

The moment her life turned around… the moment it all seemed to have meaning again… was the night she met him. If she was Charlie's Greatest Hit, he would forever be hers.


End file.
